Graphics cards maker Tul Corp. may face denunciation from customers and distributors as at least some graphics cards with the 'Power Color' brand-name made by the company use different graphics processors than they should. The company denied that the boards were made at Tul Corp.'s factories, which may mean that a third-party company made a number of fake graphics cards under with 'Power Color' brand-name on the boxes.

At least some of ‘Power Color’ RADEON 9600 PRO graphics card that are available on the market today use RADEON 9550 graphics chip with re-soldered resistors, instead of the RADEON 9600 PRO visual processing unit, according to a brief investigation of an X-bit labs bureau in Moscow, Russia. At least one retail store in the capital of the Russian Federation had Power Color RADEON 9600 PRO graphics cards with RADEON 9550 VPU in stock on Friday, the 15th of October, 2004.

Tul Corporation, a maker of graphics cards and other computer components, Tuesday said it holds no responsibilities of manufacturing and supplying the forged PowerColor RADEON 9600 PRO graphics cards, found on the market days ago.

On Monday X-bit labs released a story about fake RADEON 9600 PRO graphics cards with PowerColor badge on them. At least some of ‘PowerColor’ RADEON 9600 PRO graphics card that are available on the market today use RADEON 9550 graphics chip with re-soldered resistors, instead of the RADEON 9600 PRO visual processing unit, according to a brief investigation of an X-bit labs bureau in Moscow, Russia.

“With the fact that Tul has discontinued the PowerColor RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB in 400/600MHz, which announcement also being posted on Tul’s official website for four months by now, Tul suspects the occurrences of false usages and sales of PowerColor products by unknown parties,” the company said in a statement received by X-bit labs on Tuesday.

Allegedly fake graphics cards are marked with R96T-QC3 marking, a typical nomenclature for Power Color’s products, equipped with 128MB of 2.8ns Hynix DDR SDRAM chips, which can theoretically run at up to 714MHz speed , D-Sub, DVI-I and TV-Out connectors, according to Tim Tscheblockov, a 3D graphics analyst for X-bit labs in Moscow, Russia.

“The forgery act not only jeopardizes Tul’s credibility to its customers and Tul’s relationship to the channels, it also drives the VGA industry to an unhealthy condition,” said Ted Chen, CEO of Tul Corporation.

To prevent possible forgery in the future, Tul Corp. claims it had initiated actions that include sending out warnings to its close partners, posting an important announcement on the web-site to its end customers, as well as distributing an official statement to the press worldwide. Moreover, Tul is in the process of originating a laser sticker on its upcoming packages so that customers can recognize the genuine PowerColor products upon purchase.

“As unpleasant as the matter is, our precautions are very essential, because we do not allow this kind of concerns happen again. We strongly suggest customers to purchase the PowerColor products through our certified distributors and channel partners for a maximum protection of their rights and benefits,” said Mr. Chen.